Nine different mechanical mitral heart valves were chosen in order to
study cavitation dynamics in detail in an in vitro flow system simulat
ing a single event of mitral valve closure. The transvalvular pressure
(ventricular minus atrial pressure) rise rate averaged during the val
ve closing period was used as an index of the loading rate. A series o
f photographs in the vicinity of the inflow surface of the valve were
attempted during the bubble appearance period using a stroboscopic vis
ualization technique. The in vitro study revealed three sources of cav
itation initiation in the design of the mechanical heart valves tested
: stop (seat stop or seating lip), inflow strut, and clearance (gap fo
rmed between the occluder and the housing or between the two occluders
in the closed position). Among these, the occluder stop design was th
e most critical to cavitation since all valves having the stop at the
edge of the major orifice area showed a higher intensity of cavitation
and threshold loading rates below the estimated normal physiological
valve. The analysis of bubble locations and dynamics led us to propose
that the fluid squeezing effect between the occluder and the stop in
the housing and the streamline contraction effect along the clearance
are factors responsible for cavitation incipience.